For many persons with mental disorders (MDs), having a job is a main life goal and a recovery sign. The possibility for these persons to enter the job market is limited by stigma. This study explored whether the participation of people with MDs in a job-training course would positively influence employees' opinions about workmates with these disorders. The job-training course was run by company trainers in a megastore 3 times over a 2-year period for a total of 18 participants with MDs. In the training store, employees' views regarding persons with MDs were assessed at pre- and postintervention with the use of matched questionnaires. At postintervention, views among the training store's employees were also compared with those of employees from other stores (controls). Compared with paired preintervention assessment, at postintervention, the training store's employees were more optimistic about recovery; more skeptical about unpredictability, dangerousness, and social distance from persons with MDs; more skeptical about difficulties of these persons in that workplace; more willing to have workmates with MDs; and more confident in the acceptance of workers with MDs by colleagues. Compared with controls, at postintervention, the training store's employees had higher levels of acceptance and lower perception of dangerousness and unpredictability, were more confident in the capacities of persons with MDs to acquire organizational skills and in their acceptance by colleagues, and were surer that having coworkers with MDs would improve the company public image. Providing job-training courses to persons with MDs could be helpful to reduce stigma against such persons in ordinary work contexts. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).To understand the range of psychosocial outcomes associated with a mass violence incident (MVI), there is a need to study posttraumatic growth (PTG). PTG is the experience of positive change that can result from contending with highly challenging life crises (Tedeschi &amp; Calhoun, 1996). Studies have documented how characteristics of the individual, their trauma exposure, and how they cope or process the event can influence PTG. However, to our knowledge, none have addressed how the activities in which an individual may engage in following the trauma can influence PTG. Following a mass murder that impacted a university community, this study examined how pretragedy factors, objective exposure, psychosocial factors (e.g., core beliefs, posttraumatic stress symptoms, social support), and the posttragedy activities in which participants engaged may influence PTG. https://www.selleckchem.com/products/SB-431542.html The posttragedy activities assessed were Mental Health Services, Informational Support, Grieving and Remembrance, Taking Action, and Coping Activities. Participants (N = 116; 68.1% female; 40% White, 31.3% Asian/Pacific Islander, 14.8% biracial, and 13.9% Latinx) who were enrolled in a college adjustment study the year prior to the tragedy were recontacted and asked to complete an online survey approximately 5-6 months following the MVI. Hierarchical regression results revealed that core beliefs and the posttragedy activity category of Taking Action were associated with PTG. Findings contribute to our understanding of the influences on PTG for university students impacted by a MVI and highlight the need to further examine the role of posttragedy activities, such as Taking Action on posttragedy adjustment. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).Despite male youth taking more sexual risks that lead to unwanted partner pregnancy and/or sexually transmitted infections (STIs), research evaluating interventions for risky sex has focused almost exclusively on adolescent and adult females. With STIs among male youth on the rise, behavioral interventions that target risky sex among male youth are needed.
A randomized controlled pilot study was conducted to examine the feasibility and acceptability of two manualized behavioral interventions for sexually active male youth.
Sexually active at-risk male youth (N = 27) were recruited and randomized to receive one session of motivational interviewing (MI) or didactic educational counseling (DEC). Assessment interviews were conducted prior to and 3 months following the intervention session.
Support for the feasibility and acceptability of delivering behavioral interventions to reduce risky sexual behaviors among at-risk male youth was found. Compared to participants in DEC at follow-up, participants in MI reported having significantly fewer sexual encounters with casual partners, used substances at the time of sex significantly less often with all partners and casual partners, and reported fewer incidents of using substances at the time of sex without a condom with all partners. Conversely, participants who received MI used substances at the time of sex with main partners and used substances at the time of sex without a condom more often with main partners at follow-up compared to participants who received DEC.
Results of the pilot study support conducting a larger randomized controlled trial to examine treatment effects. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
Results of the pilot study support conducting a larger randomized controlled trial to examine treatment effects. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).This research investigates the extent to which the personality trait of Openness-to-Experience can protect individuals from living in personal echo chambers that create and reinforce a narrow view on the world. Analyses of 2 large-scale data sets with over 80,000 participants and more than 40,000,000 behavioral observations demonstrate that individuals scoring high on Openness show higher variability in the psychological profiles associated with their personal interests-a novel concept termed psychological interest diversity. Study 1 examines the Facebook profiles of 57,185 users to demonstrate that a person's Openness level predicts the degree to which the pages they like are diverse in the political ideologies, personal values, and personality traits of their followers. Study 2 replicates the findings of Study 1 using over 28,000,000 GPS-tracked event attendances collected via people's smartphones. Specifically, the results show that individuals (N = 22,953) with higher levels of Openness also show higher levels of psychological interest diversity in the events they attend, and that this effect is incremental to county-level variation in psychological interest diversity.